Gabam also denied claims that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) pays political parties N50m bribe, saying that will compromise the watchdog role of the opposition.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said last week that the APC government paid opposition parties an N50m bribe to weaken their leadership ahead of the next election. Atiku, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), made the allegation at a national conference on strengthening democracy last week.
Reacting, the SDP chair said, “It’s not true. For me as SDP, I cannot speak for other political parties. There is no single transaction between SDP, the Federal Government or agent of the Federal Government, or representatives of the Federal Government. There is none. Never.
“We are not designed to compromise institutions; we are trying to build institutions. The moment you compromise institutions, you won’t have the audacity to speak because your conscience has been compromised and you have compromised that institution.
“If the government does not want opposition, they can as well amend the constitution so that we can have a one-party system.”
